Deviant Masquerade
by Sadainea
Summary: A challenge from Luthearl. Hermione went missing. She didn't want to be found. What happens when a chance encounter at a muggle club brings a certain professor back into her life?


Hermione straightened her elegant, red masquerade mask with gold trim and exotic feathers. Her tight fitting leather pants and the graphic tee that she had cut in a crop top, fit snug enough to show off ample curves. The red and gold earring caught the light as they hung slightly below her lobes. She checked her hair, pulled up and to the side to cascade over her shoulder in perfect ringlets, in the mirror one last time before heading to the stage entrance.

Most people thought the young witch was dead. The truth was that she had run away. She couldn't stand to be around _her_ anymore without the overwhelming desire to throw herself at her and kiss her senseless. So she left. She and her brothers and her best friend were now one of the biggest cover bands in London.

The band, Deviant Masquerade, was completely booked on their schedule for the next few months. The spent a lot of time playing bars and dance clubs but they had gotten a lot of larger venues as well. Tonight they were playing at one of the biggest new clubs in the city, Secrets.

One thing she had insisted on when she and the others decided to form the band was that they would wear the masks. She knew that many of the teachers and former students that went to Hogwarts, frequented the muggle bars and clubs. She was definitely not looking to be recognized by anyone in the audience. Especially the teachers.

As she and the others took the stage in the large club, her eyes scanned the crowed. She watched the audience through the haze cigarette smoke and lights. As she was adjusting the mic stand, her eyes were draw to a head of jet black hair, pulled up tightly into a bun and emerald eyes that pierced her and haunted her mind.

-O-O-

Minerva McGonagall had fought with Rolanda Hooch tooth and nail, about going out tonight. It had been a long day and she just wanted to relax on her couch with a good book and a glass of wine, or something stronger.

Rolanda Hooch refused to budge on the issue. The two friends hadn't been out together in months and it was a beautiful night out. There was no sense wasting the good weather by staying inside. Even if she had to drag the green eyed witch out, they were going out tonight like it or not.

The two friends arrived at a club in downtown London, one Minerva couldn't even be bothered to remember the name of. Since the chances of her ever coming back to this place were slim to none.

She sat at a table off to the side, alone and out of the way. Rolanda was off somewhere in the mass sweaty bodies moving on the dance floor. Somewhere the Scottish woman had no desire to be.

She noticed a band take the stage, each of them carrying various instruments. The first thing that struck her as odd was that they were all wearing feathered, beautiful masks. Then she noticed the color of the masks. The two women, one with curly mousy brown hair and the other with straight jet black hair, wore masks decorated in Slytherin and Gryffindor colors respectively. The two men wore Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

The woman in the Gryffindor mask struck a chord in Minerva's memory. She was intrigued by this stranger and longed to know more about her. She carried with her an acoustic guitar which she expertly fingered as she mentally rehearsed the music they would be playing. As she moved to adjust the microphone, her eyes locked with Minerva's and the older witch saw a flash of…something in those expressive brown eyes.

-O-O-

The night progressed slowly and the band was once again a success. Hermione tried her best to act like she didn't notice her former professor. The very same professor that she had run from to begin with. Though it wasn't her place she wondered, did the older woman frequent places like this or was it something she had been dragged too? She supposed she would never know as she and the others left the stage, determined to forget about this stolen moment.


End file.
